A Life after Sophie Rose Cohen
by cheerleader2006
Summary: This is a complete Kandy and Sophie fic. It will also have the other charecters.
1. Chapter 1

DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything or anyone having to do with the O.C.. If you want to sue your not going to get much.. I'm just a poor struggling college student with bills to pay.

**CHAPTER ONE**

Kirsten was spread out on the couch with little Sophie curled up on her chest when Sandy got home. When she heard Sandy walk into the living room, she paused the movie she had been watching.

"Hey Hunny" Kirsten exclaimed quietly.

"Hi Baby," said Sandy as he gave her a kiss. As he pulled away he looked down at his daughter. "How was the little one today?"

"Good. Not too fussy." Sophie began to squirm. "We hung out and did girly things. Well she sat and watched me as I painted my nails and all that. But then we decided to lie down and watch _Notting Hill_. She fell asleep pretty quickly." Kirsten finished as she rubbed her hand up and down Sophie's back attempting to soothe her.

Sandy reached over and picked up Sophie, "How's my princess doing?" Sophie yawned, "Well thanks. It's good to see you to sweetie."

Kirsten stretched as she got up off the couch and followed Sandy into the kitchen. She watched as he carefully put Sophie in her lounger as if she was glass and was going to break at any time. He watched his little girl for a few seconds before he turned around.

"So, how was your meeting?" Kirsten asked as she grabbed glasses from the cabinet and filled them with ice tea.

"It went really good actually," As he took his glass from her.

"What's the verdict?"

"They offered me a job teaching law."

"That's amazing Sandy." Sophie began to fuss. "Are you going to take it?" As Kirsten asked this she gave Sophie her pacifier.

"I think so. I mean it's a great opportunity and it might be kind of fun."

"You would be an amazing teacher. I think it would be great for you." Sophie's cries got louder. "Can you start dinner while I feed her?"

"Of course, how does lasagna sound?"

"Excellent." Kirsten gave him a kiss as she walked around him, taking Sophie as she passed. Sandy began to put water in a pan to cook the noodles. She watched him as she settled in the chair at the island and began to feed Sophie. "Wow, she must have been really hungry."

"Are you okay with staying home while I go to work? I know how you can not stand to sit around."

"Yeah, I love staying home with her. I promise that it is okay with me."

"As long as you're sure, just make sure that you tell me when you want to go back to work."

"I figured that I will take a year off and figure out what I want to do. That gives me sometime."

"Sounds like you have a plan all sorted out."

After they finished their dinner Kirsten got up to put the dishes by the sink. Sandy looked over and noticed that Sophie was fast asleep. "I'm going to put Sophie to bed then I'll come back and help you with the dishes."

"Sounds good, I'll finish cleaning up the table." She watched as he cradled their daughter to his chest as he walked into the nursery. She could not believe that she had a daughter. It was still so different saying that she had three children.

"I talked to Seth today." Sandy said as he walked into the kitchen. "He seems to be settling in well. He said that he likes it there." He began to place the dishes into the dishwasher.

"That's great! Only another month and a half until we get to see him for parent's weekend," She continued to wash the dishes before handing them to Sandy, "We should see if Ryan is free for lunch sometime this week."

Sandy put the last of the dishes into the dishwasher and turned it on. "Great idea, I'll call him tomorrow."

"Let's go to bed."

"I think that I should show you how proud I am of you for getting this great job." She smiled as she said this.

"Ooh, I like that idea." Sandy said as he followed her into their bedroom.


	2. Chapter 2

DISCLAIMER: Same as in Chapter One. Nothing has changed. For the record I also have nothing to do with the restaurant and/or shopping mall mentioned in this chapter.

CHAPTER TWO: THE NEW JOB

Sandy sat in the living room of their new, well old house in Berkeley, playing with Sophie as he waited for Kirsten to get ready.

"Kirsten hunny, I'm sure you look fine. We have to leave in 15 minutes or we're going to be late for lunch with Ryan." He placed Sophie in her car seat, and made sure everything she could possibly need was in her diaper bag.

"I'm done, I'm done. We can leave now." She came out in True Religion jeans, a black v-neck sweater made by Christian Dior, and her black Marc Jacobs stilettos.

"See I told you that you looked beautiful." He said as he gave her a kiss.

She kissed him back and said, "Come on, We don't want to be late."

Sandy buckled Sophie's car seat and carried her out to the car as Kirsten grabbed the diaper bag and her purse. Sandy placed the baby in the backseat of the Lexus and he waited for his wife to lock the door. Once the three of them were situated in the car, Sandy pulled out of the driveway and headed to Trattoria La Siciliana; a nice Italian restaurant downtown.

By the time they got there they were running five minutes late. They saw Ryan waiting at a table.

"Hey, sorry we're late." Kirsten said as he gave him a hug.

"It was Kirsten's fault; she was in the bathroom for like an hour getting ready." Sandy laughed as he returned Ryan's hug. Kirsten glared at him as she unbuckled Sophie's car seat.

"How's Princess Sophie?" Ryan asked as he picked her up and held her as the three of them ordered their meals.

"She's doing great. She's starting to babble a lot. It's really cute." Sandy smiled.

As they received their food Kirsten asked, "How's school going?"

"School's great. Classes are not too tough. Things are going great. Taylor and I just redecorated the kitchen in our apartment, it looks nice." Ryan dug into his lasagna.

"Sounds like things are going good for the two of you." Sandy stated.

"They're going really good. I love her."

"That's really great Ryan. It is about time you find someone that makes you happy." Replied Kirsten as she nit-picked her lunch.

Their lunch and conversation went on for about another hour and a half before Ryan announced that he had to study for a Calculus exam he had the next day. They all said their goodbye's and went their separate ways.

When Sandy, Kirsten, and Sophie got home they continued their day watching TV, playing with their daughter, and relaxing on the beach. Later that night when they returned home from the beach they gave Sophie a bath and put her to bed.

After they put the little one to sleep they curled up on the couch with Kirsten against Sandy's chest and watched reruns of Law and Order: Special Victims Unit. Sandy felt her breathe even out and knew that she was going to fall asleep.

"Come on, let's get you to bed."

Around two o'clock in the morning they awoke to the sounds of Sophie's cries. Sandy started to get up as Kirsten stopped him, he looked over at her.

"No, I'll get her. You start your new job tomorrow, you need your sleep."

"You need your sleep too."

"No. Go back to sleep. I'll be in in a little bit. She probably just needs her diaper changed." Kirsten got out of her warm, cozy bed, put on her robe and walked out of the bedroom.

As Sandy was starting to doze back off he felt the bed dip as his wife joined him. "She just had a wet diaper." They both fell back asleep.

The next morning Kirsten and Sophie sent Sandy off with a travel mug full of coffee and a bagel topped off with a mound of cream cheese; just how Sandy liked it.

"Well it's just you and me sweetie. What should we do today?" Kirsten asked in baby speak when Sophie and her were all alone. Sophie just kicked her feet. "Well how about mommy gets ready and then we can go shopping." Sophie giggled and kicked her chubby little legs again.

Two hours later mother and daughter were on their way to Broadway Plaza in San Francisco. After a couple of hours shopping and a massive credit card bill Sophie and Kirsten returned home. After laying Sophie down for a nap, Kirsten started dinner. Sandy would be home in an hour and she wanted to have a romantic dinner to celebrate Sandy's first day of teaching. Hopefully everything would go according to plan.


	3. Chapter 3

Dislcaimer: Same as all previous chapters.

**CHAPTER THREE: The Doctor's Appt.**

"Sandy, come in here quick. You have got to see this!" Shouted Kirsten out the living room window where she was playing with her daughter.

Sandy shut off the lawn mower and began walking into the house, "What?"

"Watch this. Come on Sophie do it again. Show your daddy what you can do." Kirsten coaxed.

As Sandy was watching he saw what Kirsten was so excited about, his little girl rolled over for the first time. "Aww, that's great sweetie. Good job!" Sandy said as he picked up Sophie and threw her over his head. Sophie just giggled.

Sandy laid Sophie back down on her blanket and gave her a pacifier. He stood up and walked into the kitchen. Kirsten watched Sophie for a few minutes making sure that she would fine before following Sandy.

"I can't believe that she just rolled over," She grabbed her mug from Sandy; "We should videotape it and send it to Seth."

"That's a good idea. Do you remember where we put it?"

"I would have to track it down. Are you going to tag along to Sophie's doctor's appointment this afternoon?" Kirsten asked as she walked back into the living room and made herself comfortable on the couch.

"Of course I want to go," Sandy walked by and kissed the top of Kirsten's head, "But first I need to finish mowing the lawn."

"Ok. We have to leave by 4 o'clock."

Kirsten and Sandy sat in the waiting room of the doctor's office with Sophie asleep in her car seat resting by their feet. "So this is just a check-up?" asked Sandy as he flipped through a golfing magazine.

As Kirsten adjusted Sophie's blankets she answered, "Yeah, just to find out how much she weighs and make sure everything is okay."

Just as she finished a nurse stepped out, "Sophie Cohen." Sandy picked up the car seat and followed Kirsten back into a room. "The doctor will be right with you," Said the nurse as she stepped out of the room.

"Now we wait."

"Not one of my strong points." Sandy replied. Kirsten just laughed.

The doctor walked into the room and shook their hands, "Hello Mr. and Mrs. Cohen. Thank you for waiting."

"Not a problem we weren't waiting long." Kirsten replied as she lifted Sophie out of her car seat.

"So she's here for a check-up correct?"

"Yes, that's correct." Kirsten answered his question as she straightened Sophie shirt.

"Let me grab this little one, I'll run down and weigh her quick." Kirsten handed her daughter over and watched as the doctor left with her.

"Where is he going? Where is he taking her?" Sandy stood up quick.

"Sandy, sit down. He's just taking her down to the scale and seeing how much she weighs. He'll be right back with her."

"Why is he going alone?"

"He'll be gone for like.. two minutes. It's fine."

"I don't know why you're being so calm. He just took off with our daughter."

Just as Kirsten was going to reply to his crazy psycho babble the doctor returned to the room, Sophie in hand. Sandy stood up quick and grabbed her, Kirsten just rolled her eyes.

"Well everything looks great. She's at a healthy weight, 9 pounds and 12 oz. I would like to see her back in a month or two to make sure that she's still doing okay, if you have any questions before than feel free to give me a call." The doctor stood and shook their hands one last time as he walked out of the room.

"I'm getting my daughter out of here." Sandy said as he got Sophie settled in the car seat and buckled her in before grabbing the diaper bag and walking out of the room.

Kirsten followed him as she picked up her purse, "Don't you think you're being a little overprotective?"

"No." he replied as he kept walking. Kirsten just giggled at her husband and rolled her eyes ad she climbed into their car.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I'll give five dollars to whoever can guess first!!

Here's chaper 4. I was really bored with nothing to do today, so I watched the series finale and followed it by season 2 while writing this.

**CHAPTER FOUR: The New Neighbors**

Kirsten was in the kitchen putting the dishes away when she heard a knock at the door. "Hello?" she answered the door, Met by two adults and a young child.

"Hi there, I'm Jeff Schmidt; this is my wife Rowan, and my son Ethan. We live next door and haven't stopped by to greet ourselves yet."

"It's nice to meet you. I'm Kirsten Cohen. My husband Sandy is getting our daughter Sophie up from her nap."

"How old is she?" Rowan asked.

"She's eight weeks," Kirsten replied, "Would you like to come in?"

"That would be great." Jeff answered.

After Kirsten let them in and made sure that they were comfortable in the living room, she went into the kitchen to make coffee. Sandy came out of the nursery with Sophie in tow.

"Hello."

"Hi, you must be Sandy. I'm Jeff; this is my wife Rowan, and our two year old son Ethan. We're the neighbors." Sandy reached over to shake their hands.

Kirsten returned from the kitchen with coffee, "I see you all met," she handed out the mugs and juice for Ethan. Sandy got Sophie situated in her lounger. And the two of them sat on the loveseat.

"So how long have you two lived here?" Kirsten asked.

"About 9 years. We moved her after we got married from Duluth, Minnesota. How about you guys, where did you move here from?"

"We actually met here at UC Berkeley, lived here for about two years before moving down to Newport Beach, and we just moved back." Sandy replied as he gave Sophie her pacifier.

"I bet it's good to be back."

"Yeah, it feels like we're finally home."

Rowan became curious, "Is Sophie your only child?"

"No, we have two sons. Our son Seth is at Rhode Island School of Design and Ryan is at UC Berkeley," Sandy refilled his coffee, "What about you guys?"

'Yeah Ethan is it for us. It took us years to get pregnant." Jeff looked over at Ethan playing with his cars on the carpet.

They continued to get to know each other for an hour when Rowan stood up. "I didn't realize it had gotten so late. We should probably get going. We have to go to Jeff's parent's house for dinner."

"Well thank you for stopping by. We'll have to do this again sometime soon." They all stood up to say their good byes. Sandy and Kirsten saw them out.

Sandy was in the kitchen washing out the mugs and placing them in the dishwasher, when Kirsten came up behind him and laced her arms around his waist while putting her chin on his shoulder.

"The new neighbors seem nice. Maybe this is your shot at a guy friend." Kirsten said.

"That would be cool. Hey, maybe he surfs."

"Ooh, now that would be perfect for you. I was thinking that tomorrow we could take Sophie down to the beach. Maybe get some corn dogs from that vendor on the strip."

"That sounds like a great idea." Sandy said as he turned around to kiss her.

"Is Sophie asleep?"

"I just put her down."

'So we have some time to ourselves until she wakes up for a feeding?" he hinted suggestively.

"What should we do with the time?"

"Oh, I have a few ideas." Sandy said while kissing her neck and walking into the bedroom.

The next day they found themselves down at the beach eating corn dogs and sharing a smoothie.

"How do you think little Princess Sophia would take to the water?" Sandy asked as they sat down on a bench.

"I'm not sure. But I do know that she loves getting a bath."

"Well let's find out. I'm going to take her down there real quick. Let her dangle her feet in."

As Sandy walked down the sand with Sophie in his arms he heard Kirsten shout, "Be careful."

She watched as Sandy kept a tight hold on his little girl as he put her in the water just enough for her ankles to get wet. Sophie splashed the water with her feet giggling loudly. Sandy stayed down with her for about ten minutes before making his way back up the beach to his waiting wife.

"I think she's finally my shot at a surfer." Sandy sat down after handing his daughter to Kirsten.

"Well lucky her." Kirsten answered sarcastically. Half of the Cohen clan curled up on the bench by the ocean and watched as the sun set into the water.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: Same as always!!

Some big things are going to be happening in the lives of Kandy and Sophie in the next couple of chapters. So please review it tempts me to update faster :)

**CHAPTER 5: Parent's Weekend**

Kirsten got out of the shower and wrapped herself in her thick terry cloth robe before heading into the nursery to get Sophie. The two of them walked in the kitchen to greet Sandy.

"Hey Baby," Sandy said as he walked over to give her a kiss, "I made coffee."

"My hero." she answered as she kissed him back. She placed Sophie in her high chair as she began to make a bagel.

Sandy sat down and began to feed his daughter some cereal, "What are my two favorite girl's going to do today?"

"I was thinking about going to the mall and getting some things that we need for Parent's Weekend at RISD," Kirsten said as she began to walk out of the room, "I'm going to go get ready." She kissed Sandy's head as she passed.

Once Sandy was all done feeding Sophie he got her cleaned up, put the dishes in the sink, and began walking to the bathroom where Kirsten was, "I have to order the plane tickets for Rhode Island today. Should I get two or three tickets?" Sandy asked as he cuddled Sophie close to himself.

"Two will probably be fine. Sophie will sit on one of our laps, so she doesn't need her own seat." Kirsten said as she unzipped her make-up bag.

"What do you think Sophie? Do you want your own seat?" Sandy asked his little one as he tickled her belly. Sophie giggled and swatted at Sandy's hands. Kirsten laughed at the interaction between father and daughter. Sophie was truly her daddy's little girl.

The day before the Cohen family was set to fly to Rhode Island they were getting last minute things together.

"Did you get ahold of Ryan to see if he was planning on joining us to RISD?" Kirsten asked as she got a load of laundry out of the dryer.

"Yeah, he said that he had a lot of stuff to do this weekend. I guess he asked for the weekend off from work but they must have ignored it or something because they scheduled him to work anyway. He was pretty upset."

"I don't understand why he felt the need to get a job; I told him that we would take care of him while he is in school."

"I think it's just something that he needs for himself. I think that it's okay for him to have a job as long as his grades don't suffer."

"Yeah I suppose." Kirsten responded as she wondered into Sophie's room to put her clothes away.

"So, what's all left to do before tomorrow?"

"Well, Sophie needs a bath, I need to finish some laundry, and make sure everything is packed."

"It sounds like your going to be having some fun today." Sandy said sarcastically.

"Ooh, don't think that you're getting away that easily. You're helping me." Kirsten walked over and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"What are you going to do to convince me that I need to help?" he asked as he kissed her.

"I can come up with a couple of ideas." Kirsten replied as she kissed him back. Just as things were heating up they heard Sophie start to cry.

"How does she know?" Sandy pulled away quickly.

Kirsten laughed as she walked to go get her daughter from her room. The night continued with them getting ready for everything. They all went to bed later that night after getting everything from dinner put away. They set their alarm clock and drifted off to sleep.

Sophie did pretty well on the plane. Only cried at take-off and at landing, the flight itself was pretty uneventful.

Seth met them at the airport, "Hey you guys." He hugged his parents and grabbed his sister, "Hey there Princess Sophie."

"So are you going to show us around the campus?" Kirsten asked as Sandy grabbed the luggage and they left the airport.

They spent the first day there touring the campus and meeting friends and their families. The second day they were in Rhode Island they had activities at the school and Seth showed them around town. It was a nice day for the Cohen family to spend together, minus one member. On Sunday, the last day Kirsten, Sandy, and Sophie were going to be on the east coast, Seth took his family out to lunch at the local steak joint that he had found with some of his buddies.

They made small talk as they awaited the arrival of their lunch. Sandy decided to ask what might be a touchy subject; he was going to tread this water lightly.

"So have you talked to Summer lately?"

Seth looked up from his meal, "Yeah actually, I just talked to her the other day. I talk to her online all the time."

"That's great. How's she doing?" Kirsten wondered.

"She's doing really well. She really likes working for GEORGE. She only has 4 more months with them, they she's going to come back here. We're thinking about getting an apartment, maybe coming to visit and then she's looking at going back to school." Seth finished his long ramble.

"Well, by the sounds of it, this separation was good for you guys. Made you realize that you're meant to be. You two are perfect for each other." Sandy finished.

They continued to make small talk as the waiter cleared their plates and brought them the check. After the bill was all paid they got all of their belongings and headed out of the restaurant.

At the airport they said their goodbyes.

"So, we'll see you for Christmas?" Kirsten asked as she hugged her son.

"Of course, and Summer will be with me. She'll be home then." Seth said as he handed his sister over to his dad.

They heard their flight number called over the speaker.

"Well that's us. Take care son, and don't forget to call sometimes. We miss you." Sandy gave his son one last hug. The hugs were finished up as Kirsten, Sandy, and Sophie boarded the plane to head home.

The plane landed in California at 8:00 pm their time. They drove home and tucked Sophie into her crib before retiring to their own bedroom. All-in-all it was a good trip and nice to see their son. They made small talk curled up against one another until sleep overcame both of them.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: Do we really need to go there??

Please review!!

**CHAPTER 6: The First Word**

Sophie is now four months old. She had began sitting up by herself a few weeks prior, so both parents began coaxing her to begin talking. Both wanted to be the first one to get her to say her first word, but so far neither was succeeding. She just giggled every time they tried. Kirsten was out getting groceries and Sandy was alone with Sophie. The father/daughter combo was in the living room playing when Sandy decided to try again to get Sophie to talk.

"Come on baby girl. Talk for your dada. Come on dada." Sandy kept repeating while holding her on his lap facing him.

Sophie just swatted at his nose.

"Thanks sweetie. Ok let's try this.. mama. Can you say mama?"

Sophie giggled.

"Yeah I know daddy is funny."

Sophie giggled again.

"You seem to laugh pretty easily, why can't I get you to talk?"

He decided to give it a break… for a little while at least. He was determined to get her to say her first word before Kirsten got back. He took Sophie into the kitchen and sat her in her high chair. After making himself some lunch he preceded to get Sophie's cereal ready. They both ate together.

After getting Sophie all cleaned up from her lunch and changing her diaper he took her back into the living room ready for round two.

"Ok here little tike, your mom and I have a bet going that we're going to be the first one to get you to talk. Now daddy has to win this. Otherwise your mommy won't let me live it down." Sandy said as he talked seriously to his 4 month old.

Sophie looked at him intently.

"Let's try this. Who's more fun mama or dada? Come on mama or dada."

Still he got nothing.

"Come on Sophie work with me here."

Sophie just looked at him.

"Ok, I give up." Sandy said as he sat her down on her blanket.

Sandy got up off of the floor and started walking into the kitchen to clean up their lunch dishes before Kirsten got home when he heard something that he hadn't heard for close to 20 years. A soft voice say "dada".

He turned around so fast he was surprised that he didn't get whiplash. There was his little girl sitting so innocently on her pink blanket with her little index finger pointed up at him.

"Dada" she said again.

Sandy couldn't believe it. He ran over and grabbed Sophie hugging her.

"Ooh my goodness. What did you just say?" Sandy was ecstatic. He got his little one to talk.

"Dada," Sophie said as she threw her little finger into her dad's face, "Dada".

With that Kirsten walked in the door, "Sandy there's groceries."

"You'll never guess what Sophie just did," Sandy said running over to greet Kirsten with a kiss.

"What? What did I miss?"

"She just said her first word."

"What?" Kirsten exclaimed.

"She said her first word."

"Well, what was it?"

"Dada."

"She said dada?" Kirsten grabbed her daughter and kissed her on the cheek, "Good job sweetie."

"Dada." Sophie pointed at Sandy.

"That's great." Kirsten handed Sophie back to Sandy and went back out to get more groceries.

Later that night after putting Sophie to bed Sandy walked into the master bathroom where Kirsten was washing her face.

"Is everything okay?" Sandy asked as he undressed out of his jeans and sweater.

"Yeah, everything's fine. Why do you ask?"

"Ever since you got home, you've been a little off." Sandy said as he got on his pajamas.

"No, I'm fine." Kirsten responded as she dried off her face and walked out of the bathroom.

"Don't lie to me. I know something's wrong."

"It's just that Sophie said dada."

"Yeah, isn't that great?"

"It is, don't get me wrong. But, that was Seth's first word too."

"I don't get what you're getting at," Sandy paused as he watched as Kirsten curled up in a chair in the corner of their bedroom, "Ooh, I get it, you're jealous."

"No, I'm not jealous. Ok fine so I'm a little jealous." Kirsten said after being silent for awhile.

Sandy walked over and sat on the edge of the chair. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and tucked Kirsten into his side, "Sweetie, you have nothing to be jealous about."

Kirsten laid her head on Sandy's chest, "I know."

"Sophie is crazy about you."

"Yeah, but she's daddy's little girl."

"I promise you. Sophie is a total replica of you. So what if she's daddy's little girl. Give it a little while, she'll want to be around you all the time and won't think twice about it."

"You're right."

"Of course I'm right. I'm always right." Sandy said as he continuously ran his hand up and down Kirsten's arm.

"Don't get cocky." She leaned up to give him a kiss.

"Let's go to bed. You're exhausting me." Sandy joked.

Kirsten got up and followed Sandy to bed. She just hoped that he was right.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: All I own of _The OC_ is all three season's on DVD, the scene-it game, a 6 CD's, a couple posters, and a T-Shirt.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I apologize for the last chapter and hope that you all continue reading. I have done some more research to make the rest of this story pretty accurate. Well.. as accurate as it can be for fiction.

**CHAPTER 7: Chrismukkah**

At 7 months old Sophie was sitting all by herself with no support. It was a big accomplishment for the little girl. They could take her into the kitchen with them or outside and just let her hang out. They didn't need to haul everything with them when they took her anywhere.

It was Chrismukkah time. Sandy and Kirsten were setting up the Christmas tree while Sophie was sitting on her blanket with her toys spread out around her. This would be her first Chrismukkah and they were excited to see what her reaction would be. They were going to have a semi-full house for this holiday season. Julie, Frank, their son Matthew Jacob Atwood, and Kaitlyn were coming to stay with them. Seth and Summer were also coming for the weekend but they were planning on staying with Ryan and Taylor at their apartment.

Sandy, Kirsten, and little Cohen spent the day getting the house all decorated for the holiday. They wanted everything to be perfect since this would be the first major holiday in their new house. Around 7 o'clock that night they heard the doorbell go off.

Kirsten opened the door to reveal the Cooper-Atwood clan. "Hey!" Kirsten exclaimed.

After the hugs went around, everyone went into the living room.

"I'll show you where you all will be sleeping." Sandy offered while helping Frank grab all the bags. Kirsten and Julie stayed in the living room with Sophie and Matthew. When Sandy got back he explained that Kaitlyn and Matthew were in one guest bedroom and Julie and Frank were in another. They spent the rest of the night discussing what was new in their lives. Chrismukkah was still two days away.

The Cohen's were shocked awake to the sound of their daughter screaming. This was a rare occurrence since she had been doing so good sleeping at night. Kirsten got up and walked into the nursery. She brought the screaming baby into the master bedroom.

"Sandy, grab the thermometer."

Sandy did as he was told. Kirsten was attempting to console their daughter, but with no avail.

Kirsten stuck the thermometer in Sophie's ear and waited for the beep. "101.4. We need to take her in."

"I'll take her, you go back to sleep and entertain our guests. You're a lot better at that."

"No, I'll take her."

"Kirsten. Go back to bed. I'll call you." Sandy said as he grabbed his daughter and took her back into the nursery to get her ready. After double checking to make sure he had everything he left for the hospital.

Kirsten lay back down to a restless sleep.

Sandy was settled in the uncomfortable seats that the hospital offered.

"Sophie Cohen." He heard over the intercom.

"Come on little girl, that's you."

The doctor walked into the room to see Sandy bouncing Sophie on his lap trying to get her to calm down.

"What's the problem here today?"

"I'm not sure. She woke up in the middle of the night screaming. Her temp was 101.4 so my wife suggested that we bring her in."

"Have you noticed anything else lately that's even a little out of the ordinary for her?"

"She was tugging on her ears a little yesterday afternoon. But, I didn't even think anything of it. She was a little fussier, more than usual, nothing to extreme." Sandy went and sat on the table with Sophie on his lap, so the doctor could take a look at her.

"Let's check you out, and find out what the problem is."

The doctor looked in her throat and then preceded to look in her ears, "Alright, I see what the problem is."

"What is it?" Sandy asked.

"Your little one here has an ear infection."

Sandy nodded.

"I'm going to prescribe an anti-biotic that you can pick up from the pharmacy downstairs. Also, you can give her some ibuprofen to help relieve some of the pressure." The doctor handed Sandy the prescription.

"Ok. How long should she take these?"

"Just until their gone, she will be fine in a week or two."

"Well thank you doctor." Sandy stood up and shook the doctor's hand. He got Sophie ready and walked down to the pharmacy.

He had to wait for the prescription so he decided that he should probably call Kirsten. He knew she wouldn't be sleeping.

"Hello?" Kirsten answered.

"Hey, it's me."

"How is she? What did the doctor say?" Kirsten asked hurriedly.

"She has an ear infection. The doctor prescribed an anti-biotic and said that we can give her some ibuprofen to relieve pressure. She'll be fine in a week or two."

"Well thank you for calling. Are you done there?"

"Yeah, I'm going to get the prescription right now and then we'll be home. See you in a little while."

"Ok. Love you."

"Love you too." Sandy replied as he hung up the phone. Just as he got it back in his pocket, Sophie's name was called. Sandy grabbed her car seat, went up to the counter and paid for the medicine. "Let's go home Sophie."

Back at the Cohen's house, everyone was up and moving. Frank offered to make breakfast, so they were all sat around the island watching him cook.

As Sandy walked in the front door Kirsten ran over and gave him a kiss as she grabbed Sophie out of the car seat.

"Hey there little girl, are you not feeling well." Kirsten asked as she pulled off Sophie's jacket. Sophie yawned.

"We should give her some of this medicine and put her back down and let her sleep.

A half an hour later they were all in the kitchen eating breakfast while Sophie was sleeping soundly.

"That was really good Frank." Sandy complimented as he cleaned off the kitchen table.

Everyone went out to hang out by the pool since it was 85 degrees out.

Later that night the Cohen's and their guests were curled up in the living room watching a movie. They had just lay Sophie down for bed. Kirsten and Sandy were curled up on the loveseat, with Julie, Frank, and Matthew on the couch, and Kaitlyn curled up in the chair.

There was a knock at the door. Sandy got up to answer it.

"Who could that be at this hour?"

"Hi dad." Seth responded when the door opened. With him were Summer, Ryan, and Taylor.

"Hey there son," Sandy responded as he hugged them all and ushered them into the house, "We weren't expecting you guys until tomorrow."

"Yeah, we know. We're sorry to intrude but our apartment has a pipe leak. So the landlord said that we should find somewhere to go tonight so they can fix it." Ryan answered as he gave Kirsten a hug, followed by everyone.

"Ok. Well all we have to do is switch around some sleeping arrangements. We can put Matthew in with Sophie. Seth and Summer can take the second guest bedroom, Ryan and Taylor can take the pull out couch, and Kaitlyn can take the other couch." Kirsten decided.

Everyone agreed that would be fine. After playing musical chairs and moving everyone around. They all decided that it was time for bed.

Lying in bed Kirsten curled up with her head on Sandy's chest, "We just got in way over our heads."

"At least it's just for the weekend."

By the time Sandy and Kirsten rolled out of bed the next morning everyone was in the kitchen eating.

"It's been a long time since I've woken up to a full house." Sandy joked as he filled two mugs with coffee.

Kirsten took one as she walked over to say 'good morning' to everyone.

"When can we open presents?" Seth asked.

Everyone laughed.

"How about everyone get ready and then we'll meet in the living room to open presents." Sandy suggested.

Two hours later The Cohen's and guests were all surrounding the tree, with Seth handing out all the gifts.

Sandy received: a couple new ties, a set of golf clubs, board shorts, a new suit from the family, and a surf board from Kirsten.

Kirsten got: two new business suits, a massage, a new clutch purse, some new casual clothes from the family, and a weekend away alone from Sandy.

Seth: comic books, new shirts, some stuff he needed for his and Summer's apartment, some yard tools from the family, and a car from Summer, so that he would stop taking hers everywhere.

Ryan: White beaters, cloths, shoes, a punching bag from the family, and a surfboard from Taylor.

"Now we can surf together." Sandy exclaimed. He was more excited than Ryan was.

Sophie didn't really know what to do with the gifts in front of her. She swatted them at first. After showing her what she needed to do, she had herself a good ol' time. She got a whole new wardrobe pretty much, along with a cute little baby purse, some toys, a baby bouncer chair to strengthen her leg muscles to help her walk, and some books that her parents could read to her.

Taylor, Summer, Julie, Frank, Kaitlyn, and Matthew all got everything that they asked for plus more. Everyone was happy with Chrismukkah this year. No Newport Parties, no illegitimate love children coming out, no fights. Just family. They were definitely going to need to do this the next year as well.


	8. Chapter 8

**CHAPTER EIGHT: The Family Photo**

Kirsten had decided that with both her boys in town, for Chrismukkah, she wanted an updated family photo. Everyone knew better than to argue with her. When she decided to do something she set her mind out to make sure that it got done, the way she wanted it. She called the local photo shop and set up an appointment for two days from now. She walked into the kitchen to grab a cup of coffee when she noticed Sandy sitting at the island reading the paper.

"Hey hunny!" Kirsten exclaimed as she filled her glass.

"Hey." Sandy replied without looking up from his paper.

"So our photo appointment is for two days from now."

"Hunny, come on, why do we have to do this? The boys don't want to, and frankly neither do I."

"We are going to get our family picture taken because I said so. And besides we don't have a formal family photo with Sophie. You all will be there with the outfits that I say. We all need to match without really matching." With that said Kirsten walked out of the room leaving Sandy dumbfounded in her departure.

"We have to all match?" Sandy asked to the air. This was going to be more torture than he had originally thought.

Sophie woke up the next morning fussier than usual. They had been waiting for her first tooth to pop from some time now. They had bought her countless teething rings so they always had a cold one on hand for her to chew on. Kirsten couldn't wait to add another big accomplishment into the little girls baby book.

"Sandy, can you grab her teething ring out of the refrigerator?" Kirsten shouted to her husband.

Sandy walked in the living room, teething ring in hand, to see his wife curled up in the chair with his daughter.

"Here you are little one." Sandy handed the ring to Sophie, who had a firm grip on the ring as she chewed, he kissed his wife.

"Are you going surfing?" She noticed his swim trunks and a towel draped around his neck.

"No, I was going to take Sophie into the pool, wanted to know if you would like to join us."

"No, but I'll go out there. The garden needs some weeding."

"Sounds like fun." Sandy replied sarcastically. He never understood why they didn't hire someone to make their garden look pretty, as Kirsten would say.

"Great. I'll go put her in her swim suit." Kirsten got up.

Sandy took his daughter out of his wife's arms and gently placed her in the baby floaty that they had bought recently. Kirsten spent her time in the garden planting some new flowers that she had bought but hadn't gotten put into the ground yet, while pulling the weeds that had overgrown.

The Cohen's had an infinity pool put in a few months after they moved in. Seth insisted that his little sister have a pool to splash around in. Both parents knew it was for the child in Seth that never seemed to grow up, no matter how old he got. He had even tried to talk them into getting a waterslide and a diving board. They axed that quickly, not even giving it time to become an idea. Both knew that no good could come of that.

Kirsten looked over at Sandy in the pool with their daughter. He was splashing her and she was giggling up a storm, kicking her feet and slamming her tiny hands onto the surface of the water. He was so good with her. Kirsten really wished in moments like this that they hadn't waited so long to have another child.

Later that night the boys came over with their girlfriends to have a nice dinner.

"So, I scheduled the appointment for our family pictures. They are the day after tomorrow. We're all going to meet there at 11:00 a.m."

"Mom." Seth whined.

"Don't mom me, we're doing this. So suck it up."

"Don't argue son. I've already tried, it doesn't work " Sandy answered after swallowing his food. Kirsten glared at him.

"Boys, I want you in a black suit with a white shit. Girls, I want you in a light pink spring dress. No arguing." Kirsten said in a tone that told everyone that it was the end of discussion.

Everyone quietly ate their dinner.

The day before the pictures Kirsten still didn't have her perfect dress. She reached her arm across the bed and felt Sandy's silhouette. She leaned over and kissed his cheek, his ear, and his neck. Trailing kisses over to his lips. Once she reached her location Sandy began to squirm.

"This is the way to wake up. I wish I could wake up like this every morning."

Kirsten just laughed, kissed him again, and curled her body up against his.

"I'm taking Sophie shopping today. I need to find her a dress, and I should probably find one too."

"You and here both need new dresses, yeah right."

"Sandy." Kirsten warned.

"Sorry, but really. You can't find one that you already own to wear?"

"I don't have a light pink dress that I haven't worn before."

Sandy rubbed his hand up and down her back, "Why can't you wear an old dress?"

"Because I'm a girl, and I want a new dress."

"I can't change your mind can I?"

"Nope," Kirsten replied as she got up, "I need to get ready. Do you mind getting Sophie dressed?"

"Yeah, I suppose I can do that."

Kirsten and Sophie spent hours on end trying to find Kirsten a dress. They found Sophie an adorable pink dress right away, in the second store they went into.

"How come you're so much easier to shop for?" Kirsten looked down at her little girl as she walked along trying to find a store she hadn't gone into yet.

"Yeah, you're right. Just wait a couple years. You'll run me ragged. Won't ya." Sophie giggled.

After a couple more hours Sophie and Kirsten returned home both with a dress. Kirsten began to make dinner. She dropped her spoon into the spaghetti sauce when a thought just popped into her head.

'Ooh My God."

Kirsten called Ryan.

"Hey sweetie, I know it's short notice, but are you free this evening?"

"Yeah I am. Taylor and I were just going to hang low and watch a movie. Why, what do you need?"

"I was wondering if you would be willing to watch Sophie. I was going to make a romantic dinner for Sandy and I."

"Of course. I can come pick her up in 15 minutes."

"You sure you don't mind. Don't feel obligated if you don't want to or if you wanted to spend some time alone with Taylor."

"No, Kirsten don't worry. I'm coming now to pick her up."

"Thank you so much honey."

After Kirsten hung up the phone she went and got Sophie's stuff together for Ryan. Twenty minutes later Ryan was driving back to his apartment with Sophie in tow. Meanwhile, Kirsten was getting everything set up for dinner that evening.

Sandy walked into the house, "Kirsten," he shouted. He set his briefcase down by the door and threw his jacket on the back of the couch. He noticed candles set out on the kitchen table. "Kirsten," he tried again.

"I'm in here." She was finishing placing all of the food on the plates.

"What's going on in here?"

"We're having a romantic dinner for two." Kirsten said as she kissed him.

"Where's Sophie?" he asked confused as to why his daughter would still be napping at 7:30 p.m.

"Ryan and Taylor took her for tonight."

"That's great. Why don't we sit down and eat this before it gets cold. Plus, the sooner we eat the sooner we can do it."

Kirsten laughed, "That was romantic." She said sarcastically.

While they were eating Kirsten decided to finally bring up what popped into her head earlier while she was making the dinner.

"I might be pregnant." Kirsten blurted out suddenly.

"I'm sorry, what?" Sandy quickly responded clearly shocked as to what she had just said.

"It came to me earlier while I was making dinner. I'm two days late and I'm never late."

"Have you taken a test?"

"Not yet." Kirsten replied while picking at her chicken.

"It could just be stress you know, or something else." Sandy tried.

"Maybe, but.. (pause).. I don't know."

"Well let's look at it like this. If you are would you be happy?"

"I don't know honestly. I mean don't get me wrong, I love Sophie with everything inside of me, but, I never thought we would have another child. Then when we did I realized that she was what we needed. Everything feels so complete with three children."

"I completely agree. Actually, I couldn't put it into words better myself."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I guess all we can do is make an appointment for the doctor and find out."

"I can make one tomorrow before the pictures."

"That's a great idea."

The rest of the night continued from there.

Sandy, Kirsten, and Sophie stopped by the doctor's office on the way to take their family pictures.

"I'll call you with the results later tonight." The doctor said as he shook Kirsten's hand and followed her out of the room.

The Cohen's took a picture of the boys, a picture of the girls. Then they took a couple pictures of Sandy, Kirsten, Seth, Ryan, and Sophie. Followed by everyone including Summer and Taylor.

After the pictures everyone went back to the Cohen's for dinner. Summer and Seth said that they had to go back to Ryan's to pack. Their plane left early the next morning. Ryan, Taylor, Seth, and Summer left after all the tearful goodbyes and promises to call.

Sandy was putting Sophie to bed when the telephone rang. Kirsten met him in their bedroom.

"That was the doctor."

"What did he say?" Sandy walked up and placed his hands on her arms.

"It's a false alarm. I'm not pregnant." Kirsten exclaimed.

"That's great baby." Sandy said as he embraced her in a hug.

"Can you sit down?"

"Why? What else do you have to tell me?"

"When I was at the doctor, we got to talking and well I got an idea. What about if we could do something to make sure this doesn't happen again?"

"A vasectomy." Sandy finished for her.

"Yeah, how did you know?"

"I thought about it after Sophie was born. I've been looking into it a little bit."

"Why didn't you ever say anything?"

"I wanted to make sure that this is what we both wanted. That you didn't want anymore children either."

"So are you going to do it?"

"I think so, what do you think?"

"If you're willing, that's great."

"I have an appointment next month. The doctor is going to give me the rest of the facts and all of that. We can decide then."

"I love you." Kirsten said as she leaned over and kissed her husband.

"I love you too."


End file.
